Hackberry Creek resident Joel Watson laughs at a joke told at his expense at a June 15 pot-luck gathering at the home of Van and Liz Hays.

Hines Interests representatives (from left) Curtis Attaway, Ben Brewer, Rob Witte and Danny Opitz stand at the construction site of the firm's new housing development adjacent to Hackberry Creek, which has become a model for single-family developments. The neighborhood was found to be the best overall area to live in the Irving and Coppell areas, according to a data analysis by The Dallas Morning News.

When Hackberry Creek resident Joel Watson retired, he and his wife, Karen, wanted to buy a new home — but not in a new neighborhood.

“We looked a little bit at other places, but we just wanted to stay in the neighborhood, mainly because of the people — all the friends here and a lot of activities,” Watson said.

The diversity of single-family homes in Hackberry Creek allowed the Watsons to stay rooted in their community, which was ranked the best neighborhood overall in Irving and Coppell, according to a Dallas Morning News data analysis.

The News determined its rankings by compiling data on key livability factors such as crime rates, neighborhood maintenance and home value appreciation, then weighing that data according to the surveyed preferences of North Texas residents.

The Watsons originally moved to Hackberry Creek from Southlake in 2002 after their kids were grown and left home. When the time came to sell the house in 2010, Watson said it practically sold itself.

“When we sold our house in Southlake, it took us a lot longer,” he said. “We sold our house here in three days. We were able to make some money on our house and felt like appreciation was better than we expected.”

For Irving’s Las Colinas area — known mostly for its corporate-office-friendly atmosphere and bevy of lofts and apartment complexes — Hackberry Creek is an example of a successful model for single-family housing developments, said Ben Brewer, director at development firm Hines Interests.

Hines is developing several new single-family communities adjacent to Hackberry Creek, including the Bridges of Las Colinas and Parkside developments, which Brewer said will benefit from access to Las Colinas employment nodes and Coppell ISD schools.

“It also helps to have different levels of homes in the area,” Brewer said. “A stable development like Hackberry Creek is something that solidifies your investment thesis.”

These new developments represent a broader push by the city of Irving to expand the number of housing developments in Las Colinas, according to Steven Reed, Irving’s assistant director for development services.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Reed said, the city approved “a tremendous amount of multifamily developments” that tied Las Colinas with the idea of apartment living more than home ownership. In recent years, he said, the city has moved to achieve better balance in Las Colinas between apartment complexes and neighborhoods like Hackberry Creek.

Unlike Hackberry Creek, Bridges and Parkside will not be gated neighborhoods. Van Hays, president of the homeowners association, said the gate, coupled with Hackberry’s signature country club, will keep the neighborhood unique even as new subdivisions pop up nearby.

Watson said the gated entry was a significant factor for his wife when they purchased their first home in Hackberry Creek.

“I know before I retired I was traveling quite a bit, and it gave my wife more peace of mind that it was gated,” he said. “Personally, it didn’t mean a lot to me, but it means a lot to my wife.”

Hays said having new developments nearby will serve as healthy competition for the homeowners association to keep Hackberry Creek as well maintained and attractive as possible. The association currently does so, he said, through ownership of its own streets — a rare asset — and rigorous deed enforcement.

But even though the Bridges and Parkside developments do represent future competition, Hays said he’s glad they will feature houses and not more apartment complexes.

“We have a lot of apartments around here as it is,” Hays said. “I think the fact that they’re putting in single-family homes is just a plus for [Las Colinas].”